“I’ve found the perfect PDA,” I gushed. My friends perked up. Knowing
how much of a geek I am, anything I was that crazy about was bound to
be interesting. They leaned over and watched as I reached into my bag
and brought out…

… my Hipster PDA.

“SACHA?!”

Introducing the Hipster PDA

One of the hottest topics in the productivity blogosphere right now is
the Hipster PDA, a surprisingly effective low-tech way to
organize your life. Grab a pack of 3″x5″ index cards and a fold-back
clip and you’re set to go!

What’s so cool about the Hipster PDA?

Gets rid of worries. You don’t have to worry about running out of
battery during a critical meeting. You can drop it and it will still
work. Even if you dunk it in water, you’ll still be able to recover
your data.

Grows along with you.
Don’t be constrained by software or hardware limitations! You can
easily experiment with different ways of planning, and you can expand
your Hipster PDA’s memory simply by buying another pack of index cards
at your nearest bookstore.

Helps you stay focused. The Hipster PDA helps you stay focused
and on-track by not supporting addictive games like Tradewinds. To
help you pass the time, the Hipster PDA comes with a few built-in
two-player games like Tic-tac-toe and Hangman.

Organizes real-life data. Receipts? Business cards? Movie
tickets? No problem! Just tuck them into the fold-back clip and
process them when you get home.

Beams anything to anyone. You can easily “beam” information
to other people—just scribble a note and give it to them. 3×5 index cards don’t crumple easily
and can easily be shared with other people no matter what mobile device they use.

Here’s what you can do with your own Hipster PDA:

Get a good pen or mechanical pencil. Keep it with your Hipster PDA at all times.

Write down one task per index card. You can write down subtasks and notes there as well. Rip up the task card up after completing the task for a satisfying finish.

Alternatively, divide your tasks into projects and write down your tasks. Check the tasks off as you finish them.

Scribble notes and ideas down on index cards.

Write down a month calendar so that you can easily see when you have appointments.

Print important contact information on an index card. You can probably fit 50 names and phone numbers. Good backup if your phone is out of battery or gets lost.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but even though the
HipsterPDA is excellent for notetaking etc., it really is a waste of
paper!

“My notes and to dos are NOT a waste” I hear you cry. But that’s not
what I’m referring to. I’m referring to using ONE index card for
writing a phone number, or an address, or a task. When this
information is then transferred to the necessary electronic or paper
area, the card is thrown in the trash – what a waste!

I apologise to those of you who recycle your cards, but from the many
articles, comments I’ve read re: HipsterPDA, most people just trash
the card and that’s it.

I’m not a great fan of the digital world, but this disrespect for
paper (and ultimately the rainforests) is just not on.

Hmm. Good point. Index cards require more processing than cheap paper
notebooks do. I like the feel of heavy paper, and index cards require
more chemicals and raw material than paper notebooks do.

I use one index card for all my notes regarding a meeting (and
sometimes two if I need to segregate topics or spill over). I throw
the card away after I get the data into my Planner. I don’t really use
my index cards for keeping track of tasks, as most of my tasks so far
have been computer-related. My deck of index cards is really more for
jotting down notes, making quick sketches, or giving information to
other people.

I feel the trade-off is justified. I work better with index cards. A
pack of 100 or 500 index cards is a small price to pay if it helps me
keep track of things I should do or little nuggets of information I
should pass onto other people.

Even if you multiply that by all the billions of people in the world,
as long as they use their index cards to help themselves keep track of
things worth keeping track of, then I think that’s a net win for the
earth.

Conservation is important, but it is not enough to see the evil in
little things. We make a lot of choices that cost the environment.
Food. Clothes. Housing and furniture. Should we stop eating because
cooking by gas or electricity uses a lot of energy from non-renewable
sources and the amount of waste going on in fast food places and
restaurants is staggering? Should we stop patronizing bookstores
because the vast majority of books don’t get read and reused? Should
we take our fingers off our keyboards now in protest against the way
computers contribute to environmental problems? Should we take direct
steps to end the world’s population problem? We make choices.

In this case, I think my pack of index cards is certainly worth it. I
respect paper, which is why I write down things that are worth writing
down. I respect trees. I really, really like trees, and wish we had
more in the city.

After I fill up the card and store it somewhere, I won’t be able to
use it a lot. I could write on my cards with a pencil and erase my
writing until the card falls apart, but my time and the earth’s time
isn’t worth that.

It’s good to look for ways to save the environment. Reduce, reuse and
recycle. However, don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees. Little
things matter, but if they help you do better things, then maybe it’s
worth it. You just need to make sure that what you’re doing is worth
the cost.

It’s one more thing to add to the pile of recyclable material (not
that garbage is really segregated in this country), one more problem
contributing to the death of the earth, but it’s something I choose to
use. Not that this is going to convince hard-core environmentalists
that I’m not a selfish, evil person, but at least I know and take
responsibility for my choice.

One of the coolest things about havingdelicious:lifehacks in my inbox
is turning up all the craziest lifehacking tips. Today’s treasure is
about lifehacking your groceries by using index cards to keep track of ingredients, simplifying a week of shopping and cooking. _And_ it comes with index card templates!